... but I finally did it. Meet my Philco 90 Highboy. It cost me almost $300 total to get it all here, but it's here. Seems that once the base is removed, a simple matter of four screws, the top half will ship through USPS no problem. The bottom half should do equally well, but the seller opted to take the base apart on this one and did some damage to it. As you can see, I've managed to reassemble it. The chassis is just sitting in there. It works, and sounds marvelous, but I do still have a bit of work to do before I call the chassis done. Waiting on Chuck's service lit for that.
Also, note that the cabinet is a mess. I've only just begun stripping it, starting with the top. There are some missing pieces of veneer, and I'm not sure what I'll do about those. My choices are: 1. Do nothing, 2. patch the relatively small spots with wood filler, and 3. Try to put all new veneer on. I do have some, though I don't think it's the proper type.
Now.. let us see if anyone has a similar radio for sale that I can buy and get here, and not take 8 months.
Model 90 highboy (has doors). Nice! I have the lowboy version cabinet. BTW, your packet should show up over the weekend, if the Gooney Bird flew straight. ;)
Congratulations! And you'll have two Philcos with early FM heading your way, starting this afternoon...I hope they don't take eight months to get there!
Thanks. I'm a pretty good tech, but a pretty bad woodworker. I'm afraid that it will never look as good as many of the radios I've seen on the Phorum. The best I'll be able to do is make it look a bit less terrible. I will take some shots of the spots of missing veneer. In the top pic here, you can see a large section missing on the base at center-right. The top has a couple odd pieces. I've done veneer repair before, and it looked 'better', but certainly not original.
As far as the chassis, most of the electronic restoration has already been done. I have some resistors and one of the cap can on the back of the (inside) of the chassis. I got that done a lot faster and neater thanks to tips I've gotten on the Phorum, things like restuffing the bakelite blocks in-place. I wish I had the skills (artistry) to do things like make the new resistors look like dogbones.
Anyway.. thanks to all for your help and encouragement.
Brenda, don't say that about yourself. You are not a bad woodworker. There is no woodworking involved, only refinishing. And you can do it as well as anyone else. If you are not happy with the results you've had, it's because you haven't used the right techniques.
Good for you, Brenda, in getting that 90 to your location. I almost went for an early Zenith that had mostly disassembled itself and nobody in the states would buy it. But it was perfect for Zone 8 US Mail. I forget now why I passed on it.
Just getting one of these sets across the pond is a mi$$ion in itself. I'm sure you will do it up nicely.
Brenda, Thanks for posting your latest radio. Good luck with it. I wish I was as luck as you to find her. Let us see her when she is all restored and working. Great find and save!
What a beauty-in-the-rough, I can't wait to see it all spiffed up! I think you were very fortunate with mailing. My wife makes fun of me now as I've taken to perusing ebay listing within a 150 mile radius to see if there is anything worth going to pick up when I'm done with my present radio.
I'll post this one here, but mostly I'll post in the cabinet restoration thread.
I've opted to forgo the veneer repairs for the time being, deciding instead to sand and restain the cabinet. As you can see from the attached pic, I seem to have missed a few spots with the stain, which I'll take care of tomorrow. To my eye, at least, it's looking a lot better than when it got here.
Brenda, great find and I'm certain it will come out well. One of my favorite styles from Philco. My 111 is my treasure, not received in as bad a condition as your 90 but certainly came out nice to my eye. Good luck.
Jerry
